Civil libertarians criticise spy cameras

Civil libertarians yesterday criticised the use of new high-tech spy cameras to be tested across Victoria, saying they could catch people doing private things in public.

The cameras are said to be able to identify and record everything from drug dealing, car theft and street robberies, to the length of the grass in council parks.

Liberty Victoria president Greg Connellan said successive Victorian governments had failed to introduce legislation to govern the use of surveillance cameras.

He said lawmakers had to protect people's privacy and ensure proper use of images produced by the cameras.

"People do all sorts of things in public, like coming out of brothels and gaming houses, that they don't want other people to know about," Mr Connellan said.

He said the cameras could also work against law enforcement, as criminals would soon realise they had to wear disguises, and police could reduce their presence on the streets.

Manufacturers reportedly say the surveillance cameras respond to and record only specific behaviour or criteria written into a computer program.

Victorian Police Minister Andre Haermeyer told the Herald Sun the system could film cars approaching booze bus sites, check whether the car matched the registration plates and whether either was stolen, and advise police if there were outstanding warrants against the owner.

A two-year test of an integrated information, surveillance and communications system, called CityNEX, began last week in several Perth suburbs.

Mr Haermeyer said he hoped the Perth system and others in development could be tested in Melbourne by the end of 2004.